Winter Sports

State wrestling notebook: Longmont's Greeott, Ramos-Vega each place 6th on Day 3

DENVER -- One took the long road. The other experienced somewhat of a letdown after reaching the state semifinals.

Yet these differing journeys nonetheless ended in the same place for the Longmont wrestling duo of Drake Greeott and Jaime Ramos-Vega, as both Trojans wrestlers came away with sixth-place medals at the Class 4A state wrestling tournament.

Greeott, a 152-pounder, bounced back from a loss in his opening match of the tournament to reach Saturday's fifth-place bout, where he ultimately was pinned by Broomfield's Jared Albo. Fellow junior Ramos-Vega struggled after suffering a 21-5 technical fall against undefeated Arvada star Garet Krohn in the 195-pound semifinals on Friday, losing his next two matches on Saturday to settle for sixth.

"Really, taking that tech fall in the semis, (Ramos-Vega) wasn't the same after that," Longmont coach Adam Keiswetter said. "That was really tough for him. That (Krohn) is a superstar though. And Greeott, he had to do it the hard way."

After getting relegated to the consolation bracket following his opening loss, Greeott reeled off three consecutive victories before losing to Valor Christian's John Holst in the consolation semifinals. Greeott was then pinned by Albo at the 2:26 mark of the fifth-place match.

"He lost in the first round and had to scratch and claw his way back," Keiswetter said. "It was awesome for him to get to there. I'm just a little unsatisfied though. I would have liked for both of them to have placed higher."

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STEPPING STONE

Despite faltering down the stretch, the run into the state semifinals could provide a huge boost for Ramos-Vega, a relative newcomer to the sport. Keiswetter reserved high praise for the 195-pound junior, saying, "He's only been wrestling two years and he's doing more than people who have been training their whole lives for this."

Ramos-Vega, Longmont's only regional champion last week, echoed that sentiment.

"All this tournament has taught me what it means to be a champion," Ramos-Vega said. "I feel (bad) now, but this is going to fuel my fire."

NOTABLE

Niwot sophomore Clay Robinson placed sixth at 106 pounds in Class 4A. Robinson suffered a 4-2 loss against Pueblo South's Michael Ramirez in the fifth-place match. ... Lyons heavyweight David Plute finished sixth in the 2A 285-pound bracket. Plute was pinned in the fifth-place match by Lane Venzke of Wiggins. ... The Erie duo of Ladd Bunker and Brandon Wetsch each were eliminated during the consolation quarterfinals early Saturday. Wetsch dropped a 4-3 decision against Discovery Canyon's Steve Turner at 132 pounds while Bunker suffered a 4-2 defeat against Roosevelt's Spencer Urban at 160 pounds.